548 AN ACCOUNT OF A ROMAN PUBLIC WAY. 
thickness, and twelve yards in breadth. The 
Farmer at Cleworth Hall says, that, when he has 
a crop of wheat or clover, he can easily discover 
the line of the Roman Road; for, on that line, 
the wheat and the clover grow higher and stronger. 
This shows, that Blue Shale is a very valuable ma- 
nure; for, it has remained here nearly eighteen hun- 
dred years, and its efficacy is not yet exhausted. 
The Road is found again in a field near New 
Brick Barn. 
The Road is still continued in the same straight 
line ; and, it is very visible, where it crosses the 
narrow slip of Little Shakerley Common. A 
short length of the ridge and materials of the 
Road, is here very perfect. 
It appears to have gone down into Shakerley 
Clough, to the Tyldesley Brook, at the point, 
where the steep declivity is sloped away by a 
hollow track. 
It was found by Charles Gerard, when he lived 
at Atherton Lodge, in the field called Big Ely ; 
and, it is still visible, by the gravel, at the north- 
west corner of this field. 
